Saturday

First United Methodist Church in downtown Jacksonville was founded in 1823. Simpson Memorial United Methodist Church, its brethren about two miles west, followed in 1884.

The congregation at First United is traditionally white, Simpson is traditionally black. But they have more commonalities than differences. Their sanctuaries were once destroyed by fire — First United in the city's Great Fire of 1901, Simpson Memorial in 1942 — and rebuilt. They have small but passionate congregations, with some families who have been members for generations.

In recent years the two urban-core churches have struggled with declining membership and increasing operating and maintenance costs, with Simpson Memorial's 1940s-era building needing $500,000 worth of repair and mold remediation.

But on Easter Sunday, which is all about resurrection and new life, they begin a unique cohabitation agreement that could save them both and be a model for race relations. They are not merging — each church will maintain its individual identity — but sharing First United's campus on East Duval Street and splitting expenses such as utility bills. They will have a joint service April 8 to celebrate their new relationship.

"It's not where you serve," said Simpson Memorial member Violet Bailey, "it's who you serve."

'JOYFULLY FLEXIBLE'

The pastors, the Rev. Tony Chance at First United and the Rev. Lawrence Q. Barriner Sr. at Simpson Memorial, first discussed sharing space last summer as a possible remedy for their respective membership and financial issues.

First United had recently lost several members who were strong, regular donors, but still had the costs associated with operating and maintaining a large campus. The sanctuary was built in the 1960s; other buildings there are older. The church also had a lot of space, said Chance, who retires in June.

Both churches grappled with mold problems and related low air quality. At Simpson Memorial, the entire building was in jeopardy with not only mold, but termites, water leaks and problems stemming from shoddy renovation work after the church burned in 1942.

To try to repair the building at this point would be "unwise stewardship" of the church's finances, Barriner said.

He and Chance were already friends and after consulting Jay Therrell, Jacksonville-area district superintendent for the United Methodist Church's Florida Conference, they brought the shared-space idea to their respective leaders.

The two pastors formed a joint task force and for two months they and five members from each church studied how sharing space would work. They had to figure out how to schedule separate worship, Sunday school, Bible study, choir practices and kitchen use. They had to figure out how to accommodate Simpson Memorial's electric organs and drums in First United's chancel area, which has a pipe organ.

They made great use of Therrell's oft-quoted phrase of being "joyfully flexible," Chance said.

"It's a new concept," Barriner said. "I knew it was going to be a challenge. It's going to be a different world."

Each church later organized two town meetings to explain things to their congregations. Chance said there was no opposition at First United, where members knew the church had plenty of space and a need for renewal.

"We are all so excited. Both our churches' spirit is so wonderful," said First United member Ruth Woo, who was part of the task force. "Nobody's rescuing anybody. We're saving each other."

Longtime member Jennie Bibb said she initially wondered, "Where are we going to put all those people?"

"We had do to something," she said. "This will save both churches. I am all for it."

Simpson Memorial's membership largely approved as well, but with tearful reluctance. Members first had to grieve for the church building that was a part of their families' lives for generations and hosted their baptisms, marriages, weddings and funerals.

Chance said he and his congregation understood. Simpson Memorial was the place for "every major event of their lives," he said.

"It's sad. It's a change," said Simpson Memorial member Gwen Takeall. "That's where I grew up. … I've never been a member anywhere else."

Mascelia Blissitt's parents were the first couple married in the church's current sanctuary. They were members when she was in her mother's womb.

"It's hard, very hard," she said.

But Blissitt is also church treasurer and all too familiar with the state of Simpson Memorial's building, which she called a "money pit."

Longtime church member Pearl Kelly Mackey, 91, said the building is "beyond repair."

"We know time brings about change. … The church has reached that point," she said. "I can still adjust to new surroundings."

Paul Presha Sr.'s parents and grandparents were members at Simpson. Stained-glass windows in the balcony were installed in honor of his grandmother. But he views the change as a "win-win" for both churches.

Simpson's building "served its purpose," he said. "If your home is falling apart, do you want to live there?"

SETTING AN EXAMPLE

The churches purposefully chose Easter as the formal beginning of their shared-space agreement. In the week prior they gathered together on Ash Wednesday, the Christian holy day of prayer, fasting and repentance, and on Maundy Thursday, the Christian commemoration of the Last Supper. Thursday they had dinner together and a joint service.

Some First United and Simpson members gathered in the sanctuary before dinner, greeting each other with smiles and hugs. There was no palpable tension — racial or otherwise — in the air.

"We all worship the same Christ," said Simpson member Takeall.

Therrell said the First United and Simpson are an example for other churches and communities.

"In these times of racial injustice and racial polarization," he said, two racially different churches sharing space "is beautiful."

Barriner cited the Bible verse Matthew 6:10: "On earth as it is in heaven."

"In this day and age, with race relations so heightened … we have a community, a model for Jacksonville and the state and the nation for how we as people of God live as a community.

"God is bringing us into the future," he said.

Beth Reese Cravey: (904) 359-4109

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